


Patient

by Lumelle



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Dwarf Courting, F/M, Fluff, Injury, Injury Recovery, Knitting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 13:37:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6008266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stuck in bed with injuries, Fíli is going crazy with boredom. It doesn't help that the rest of the Company seem to be busy living their lives out of his reach. Ori at least is happy to keep him company, and offers a solution to his boredom by teaching him to knit. While this does help Fíli pass the time, he still has to deal with the big ridiculous mess that is the line of Durin in love.</p><p>Of course, the biggest problem is himself, and how he should approach Ori before someone steals his pretty little scribe away. How exactly is Fíli supposed to make a proper courting gift when he's not even allowed to leave his room?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patient

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do something fluffy for Valentine's Day. Also, there are never enough knitting fics. This is the result.

The worst thing about being injured, Fíli found, was being bored out of his skull.

Sure, the pain wasn't all that pleasant either, but at least that got better with time, not worse, and in any case he was slowly getting used to the constant aches in various parts of his body. It really was quite unfair, he mused, how Thorin and Kíli got away with little more than scratches while he got hurt badly enough that Óin had quite seriously threatened to keep him confined to bed rest until summer, if not longer. Not that he was feeling any particular urge to run about, when just making his way to the bathroom was an almost unsurmountable task that required help most days, still. Even so, being confined to one single room, and more or less to his bed, got very boring very fast.

The others recognised this crisis in the making, of course, and tried their best to alleviate his boredom. They knew better than well the kind of trouble he tended to get into when he was bored — well, the kind he usually got into when he could move about, anyway. His opportunities for mischief were greatly reduced by his movement being restricted to the healing tents and, once things had been sorted out somewhat, a room in the mountain. Even Kíli, his usual partner in crime, was getting lax in his duties of enabling Fíli's schemes, too busy with his attempts at courting a no doubt rather baffled she-elf. All Fíli could do was to remind Kíli to actually tell her about dwarven customs of courting gifts and ask him to bring her along at some point so Fíli could properly chat with her. At least that would have been entertaining, unlike the majority of his activities.

The rest of the Company tried, they really tried. Not often was Fíli alone in his room, with one friend or another sitting by his bed, working on small crafts or paperwork while talking with him or reading out to him from what books had been salvaged from the grand royal library. There were stories and songs and all the gossip he could handle about the mountain's reconstruction and all the people involved in it, yet all that only served to remind Fíli of everything that was going on outside the walls were closing in on him ever tighter day after day. He wanted to see all the work done in the mountain himself, wanted to see the repairs to the grand forges and the cleaning out of the old market and the rebuilding of Dale, wanted to be there to see Tauriel actually smiling at Kíli's serenades or the way Thorin kept looking at Bilbo like a puppy dog craving a pat from its master. Living it all through the eyes of others was better than nothing, he supposed, but it was clearly, painfully, simply not enough.

Perhaps some of them understood this, or else were just running out of things to say, since more and more often he found himself sitting in shared silence with someone. It was better than being alone, but hardly did anything for his boredom. He could feel his strength being sapped away by every day he went without sparring, his skills crumbling down like so much dust as he couldn't practise his fiddle or his knives or his blacksmithing. He might have risked Bilbo's wrath by having someone affix a target to the wall for him to practise with his throwing knives, but for one thing that would still have required someone to get the knives back for him every time and for another his injured shoulder probably wouldn't have liked the motion overly much. As it was, all he could do was stare at the ceiling and try not to punch the wall in frustration. The walls were sheer stone, after all, and would have hurt.

His current companion was Ori, sitting in a chair next to the bed and knitting something. He had been talking earlier, telling Fíli about the royal library and how much work there was to be done there, but had then lapsed into silence that Fíli didn't feel like drawing him away from. It was better than a lot of the silences he'd been dealing with lately, better than the pain-filled darkness of deep night where the only thing he heard were his own strained breaths as he resisted the temptation to call for someone, better than the thoughts that filled his mind as he sat alone in his bed and imagined all the busy dwarves living their busy lives outside his door without a moment's thought to his plight. This was a comfortable silence, filled with the crackling of a fire and the soft click-click of Ori's needles, with the occasional moment of humming here and there.

Fíli turned his head, studying Ori. Not that he was going to find any surprises, really. Ori had become a very frequent visitor, and Fíli often found himself watching the little scribe when he got the opportunity. Ori was wearing new clothes, all of the Company were these days, brought over from Iron Hills to replace their road-worn gear. Even Fíli himself had been presented with a few sets of loose tunics and trousers, not that he had use for much else, stuck in bed as he was. Ori's hair was always neatly brushed and braided now that they weren't on the road anymore, and even his beard had some semblance of order to it, for all that it was still soft and wispy. It was longer than Fíli's own, anyway, so it wasn't like he had any grounds to criticise. Every now and then Fíli would spot a shining bead in Ori's hair or a finely-crafted pen peeking out of his bag, simple signs of new-found wealth that Ori hadn't gone overboard with like some people might have done.

"Is that a new ear cuff?"

Ori blinked, no doubt surprised by the interruption, then flushed a little as he settled his knitting down to bring a hand up to his ear. Fíli could just barely see the cuff peeking out from under his hair, silver with a purple gemstone. He idly wondered if Ori's hair would turn the same lovely shade of silver that Dori boasted. "Ah, yes. Dwalin gave it to me the other day. Apparently he found it while they were taking a look at the treasury and thought it might suit me. It's the Ri family colour, purple," he added as a way of an explanation.

"Did he, now." That was… strange, kind of. Dwalin wasn't an unkind dwarf despite his rough exterior, but he wasn't exactly the most thoughtful person Fíli had known, either. Even if he had somehow known about the colour — something that Fíli hadn't been aware of until just now, at least not as a confirmed fact, despite spending quite a lot of time together with Ori on the road — it was really quite unusual for him to think of Ori and then act on that thought. "It… suits you." He had to admit that much, begrudging though it was. Not that he had any reason to be angry or anything of the like, of course. He just didn't quite understand why Dwalin would do something so uncharacteristic, that was all. No idea whatsoever.

"Ah. Thank you." Ori's flush deepened. "It was really thoughtful of him."

"Indeed." And no, Fíli was not bitter or anything, not at all bitter about the fact that Dwalin was traipsing around the mountain and giving Ori gifts like he had any right to do so while Fíli was stuck here with nothing to do. "And is it making you think of Dwalin?" Why was he asking that? Clearly he'd become too accustomed to pain if this was what he was talking about.

"What?" Ori blinked before his eyes widened in realisation. "Oh! Oh, no, it's nothing like that! He's not — he's not courting me or anything!"

"Are you sure? Because that's a very nice gift from someone without any interest." Ori wasn't quite close enough for Fíli to reach out to touch him, but he almost desperately wanted to. "Your family colour, too. People don't just hand gifts like that without a reason."

"It's just something he found, that's all." Ori shook his head. "You know Dwalin is a traditional dwarf in these things. He'd put a lot more thought and work into a courting gift, I'm sure. And, well, he'd state that it is one, at the very least."

"Probably." Not that he was entirely convinced yet. A thoughtful Dwalin was much like a calm and collected Kíli — not entirely impossible, but definitely a sign that something was going on that he probably should be aware of. "Say, what's that you're knitting?"

Ori was probably as eager for a subject change as Fíli was, as he didn't even question the clumsy segue. "Ah, it's just a hat. Bilbo was complaining that he feels cold, so I thought he might like one."

Fíli chuckled. "He'd probably benefit more from a proper pair of socks."

Ori laughed, the flush finally fading from his face. "Perhaps, but I think he'd kick me sooner than agree to wear socks. So a hat will have to do."

"Just make sure he doesn't misunderstand that." And why was he so very concerned about whether someone was courting Ori or not?

"I really don't think that will happen." Ori smiled, smoothing out the fabric. The yarn he was working with was a nice deep red that Bilbo was probably going to like. "For one thing, I've talked with him and he's told me that hobbits give gifts at many different occasions, so he's probably not going to think it's anything special, even if it's handmade. And for another, well." His lips twitched. "I'm rather hoping he'll be busy being courted by your uncle, soon."

"Knowing Thorin, it won't happen until Bilbo drags him along by the ear." Fíli hadn't spoken with Thorin much since the battle, given that his uncle didn't have time for more than brief visits every now and then with his various duties. What he had gathered from their conversations, though, was that Thorin was convinced he didn't deserve Bilbo, or something equally ridiculous. Someone would have to set him right on that before Bilbo lost his patience, but with Fíli stuck in bed, someone else would have to do that.

"Perhaps not. Bilbo has been spending time with Balin a lot lately, though, and I'm sure he'll speak to Thorin soon if Bilbo doesn't." Ori shook his head. "Everyone in the Company wants to see them courting, so I'm sure things will get sorted out sooner or later."

"That's good to hear at least." Really, he should have been out there figuring this out, not stuck in here staring at the walls.

With the conversation dying away again, Ori picked up his knitting again. Fíli listened to the calming click-click of the needles for a while until a thought occurred to him.

"Is that very hard? Knitting, I mean?"

"Hm?" Ori blinked and looked up at him. "Oh, not very hard once you know the basics. It takes some practice, though."

"Well, I was thinking, I'm stuck in bed, and will be for a while if Óin has his way. That seems like something I could do without straining myself too much." It wouldn't be quite blacksmithing, to be sure, but at least he could be doing something with his hands.

"I could certainly teach you if you want." Ori smiled. "I have spare needles, I can bring along a set and some yarn the next time I come by."

"Would you?" He'd asked about it on a whim, but now that he thought about it, it really sounded like a good idea. It would give him something to do, and an excuse to be close to Ori more. Yes, definitely a good idea.

"Of course, if you want to learn." Ori chuckled. "You'll have to be patient, though. Nobody is good at it at first."

Fíli spread his arms as wide as his injured shoulder would allow him. "As you can see, I have nothing but time."

And if that was time with Ori, well, that was the best possible outcome, really.

*

"Are you sure this is supposed to be simple?"

"It's just two different stitches, Fíli." Ori was sitting on the edge of Fíli's bed, now, leaning close to him, which was good. That was just about the only good thing about this whole situation, though. Fíli's hands were currently occupied by a rather pitiful attempt at knitting. The needles were exactly like the ones he'd seen Ori working on, and the yarn was nice and soft, yet somehow all he had produced was a misshapen, lumpy piece of fabric that bore only a distant resemblance to anything Ori had made.

"Are you sure about that?" Fíli looked mournfully at his poor excuse of a knitted piece. "Because I'm pretty sure no two of these are alike." Some of his stitches were large and loose, others were impossibly tight.

"It's just a matter of practice. Your tension is uneven, that's why they look different." Ori reached over to set his hands over Fíli's, adjusting their position. "Not like that. See, you should have the yarn tensioned like this, it will help you keep everything nice and even."

"Right." Fíli frowned, trying to keep his fingers as Ori had shown him as he kept knitting, one slow stitch at a time. "And you're sure this will get easier?"

Ori chuckled, and he was close enough that Fíli could feel the movement of it. "Yes, I'm sure. I was rather terrible when I was first learning. The only reason I'm faster now is because I didn't give up and kept doing it more and more."

"I suppose I'll have to trust your expertise on this." Fíli gave his little project a critical eye. "I suppose my first smithing attempts looked much the same."

"It tends to be like that with most crafts, I think." Ori was practically leaning on him now, thankfully on the side with the good shoulder. He felt terribly warm against Fíli's side. "That's why it's important not to give up."

"I'm not about to give up, I promise. I'm just despairing, a little." This gained him a chuckle, with Ori's body moving against him, and oh, that was a good thought. "Are you sure it's all right for me to do this, though? I mean, this is your yarn, right? And I think it's going to be unusable after I'm through with it."

"Don't worry, I have plenty." Ori chuckled. "I might have gone a bit overboard, ordering yarn from the Iron Hills merchants. Believe me, you could sit here all day doing nothing but cutting yarn into tiny pieces and you wouldn't make much of a dent in the contents of my yarn box."

"If you're sure." Now, why didn't it surprise him that Ori would be using his gold on yarn? And paper and ink, no doubt. Fíli already knew he'd treated himself to some nicely crafted pens. "This must seem like such a crime against yarn, though."

"I already told you, nobody's good when they start." Ori smiled. "It's just a matter of what you're used to. I would probably be completely useless in a smithy."

"I'm not sure this is going to get any better." Fíli sighed. "I'm not really good at all this detailed stuff. Kíli would probably be much better at this, he's used to this kind of thing. I mean, he's the goldsmith out of us." Not that blacksmithing didn't require a degree of finesse, but the two really couldn't be compared in that regard.

"Nonsense." For something that might have been taken to be an insult, Ori's response was surprisingly firm. "I've seen the way you work with your knives. Not when you're fighting, though that's good too, when you're just toying with them and twirling them around. Anyone who has that much control over such a thing can learn knitting."

"I'll trust your expertise, then." Any excuse to continue sitting here with Ori. "And, well, it's not like I have much else to do but keep trying. It's a long time until summer, still."

"I'm sure Óin won't keep you here for quite that long." Ori watched Fíli's pitiful attempts for another moment before he got off the bed. "Well, I should get going, it must be almost dinnertime and Dori will want me home for that."

"While I get the excitement of trying to guess who will be bringing me food this time." Fíli set his knitting down in his lap, managing a smile. "Thanks for being patient with me. Somehow, I think I'll be asking for help a lot more, still."

"I'll be happy to help any time you need me to." Ori gathered his things, putting them all away in a bag and shouldering it. "I'll be by tomorrow, all right? We can take a look at how you're doing then."

Fíli chuckled. "I think you have way too much faith in my chances of improvement, but sure." He managed to keep sitting up until Ori had left the room, then finally sank back into the bed. It was hard to admit just how much simply sitting up without support exhausted him, still, and he certainly wasn't about to admit that to Ori.

He was still lying down by the time Kíli came with their dinner. This was a rare treat. Someone usually came by to eat dinner with him, but Kíli often preferred to share his meals with Tauriel instead. Not that Fíli blamed him for it, whatever made Kíli happy was fine with him, it just meant that he didn't often get to eat with his brother, that was all.

"Well, don't you look perky." Kíli set the tray with the food on the small table next to Fíli's bed. "Long day?"

"I'm in trouble." And he could admit that much, thank you, he was a grown dwarf and everything.

"Of course you are. What else is new?" Kíli happily sat down in the chair, drawing one of the two plates closer. "Though I'd have imagined you wouldn't manage quite as much trouble out of your bed."

"I think," Fíli said, trying his best not to sound too hysterical, "I think I'm in love."

"Uh-huh." Wait. Why didn't Kíli sound surprised at all? "So, does Ori know yet?"

Fíli turned to glare at his brother accusingly. "What?"

"Look, no offence, brother dearest, but I don't really think there are many people this side of Mirkwood who'd be surprised to hear that." Kíli shook his head. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we're not exactly subtle about our interests, our line. We've both heard the stories of how Mum all but bashed Dad over the head to make him notice her, and then there's me with my fevered confessions, and Thorin with his mithril shirt gifts. And then we have you, who's always talking about how Ori said this or Ori did that, or else asking about something related to Ori." Kíli paused, then added, "And, well, there's that mess of yarn in your lap that I'm going to assume has something to do with him."

Fíli groaned, throwing his good arm over his eyes. "I have no idea what to do, Kíli," he moaned. "He's here almost every day and I have no idea what to do about it and if I don't hurry someone else is going to snatch him away!"

"If he gets snatched away it's only because he wants to be. Ori's a big dwarf, Fíli, he can sort things out for himself if he's in that much of a hurry." Kíli paused. "Want to hear my suggestion? You know, speaking as the one person here who actually is wearing courtship braids at the moment."

"At this point, I'll take what I can, thanks." Fíli scooted up on the bed until he could sit up against the headboard, then took his own plate from the tray. It smelled nice, and he was rather hungry for having spent the entire day in bed.

"Really, I would tell you to simply tell him, but I know you would have done that already if it was something you were going to consider." Fíli made a face at the thought. Goodness knew that a simple confession wouldn't have impressed Ori, if indeed he'd even believed Fíli and not thought he was joking. Kíli chuckled at his reaction. "And, really, it's probably for the better. My guess is Ori would be quite happy just to hear it, but you need to convince his brothers, too, and that's not going to be quite so easy. For that, you should get all traditional."

"You mean, courting gifts and such?" Okay, that he could probably do. Maybe. At least he'd have time to prepare.

"Exactly. You just need to think of something that will really show him how you feel." Kíli paused. "Well. That and something you can make in bed, or you won't even be able to start any time soon."

"Believe me, I'm quite aware of that." Fíli sighed, looking at the pitiful little tangle of yarn lying in his lap. "Well. I suppose it's a good thing that I indeed have nothing but time at my hands."

It was a long time until summer, still.

*

By the time summer was actually approaching, Fíli was well and truly sick of his room.

It was a nice room, sure, he was probably going to keep it even once he recovered enough to explore more of the mountain. It was big enough he could set up a desk for drawing up his smithing designs and add a proper wardrobe and a weapons cabinet and other such things, he had his own bathroom, it was apparently within the same larger apartment as his brother's and uncle's rooms if he'd been correctly informed. Even so, after spending the better part of winter staring at the same four walls, he probably would have welcomed a spell in the Mirkwood dungeons just for a change of scenery.

Well. Provided that he was guaranteed an escape, that was, and preferably not after several weeks this time. Being stuck in one place was precisely his problem, after all, and unlike his brother he had no desire to spend a few weeks playing nice with an elf guard.

Óin was impressed with his recovery, but not quite impressed enough to let him roam free just yet. Every time he asked he got vague mentions of "not quite yet" and thoughtful nods, and then everyone else took that as an excuse to keep him stuck in bed even longer. Thorin had suggested he could try to do some paperwork, which was both cruel and ridiculous. The kind of paperwork he could have helped with would have required thinking, and that would have been straining himself, and really it was just terrible of Thorin to try to shoulder off his duties to his poor recuperating nephew. In other words, as long as Thorin sided with Óin, he had better not expect any help from Fíli.

There was also the fact that his head still started to hurt if he tried reading anything for a prolonged time, but he wasn't about to mention that to anyone.

He was getting better at knitting, at least, which was a relief. His first attempts had been rather sad and taken forever for him to get anywhere, but with Ori's patient teaching and plenty of time to practise, he was getting to be at least tolerable. Of course he was nowhere near Ori's skill level, who was able to quickly knit without even looking at his work while talking at the same time, but at least he was no more struggling with every last stitch. He'd even had Thorin nodding approvingly at his work and make some comment at how learning a new craft was always a good thing. Fíli secretly suspected he was just hoping for a new cowl like the one he had made for Kíli. Sure, it still had some uneven stitches and such, but Kíli assured him it was delightfully warm, so Fíli supposed it was fulfilling its purpose.

As such, it was probably no surprise that Bilbo found him knitting as he came by on a late spring day. Fíli was sitting on his bed, gaze flitting between his work and the set of instructions Ori had written out for him. It was nicely written in clear letters, and yet he might have just as well tried to read Elvish. Everything seemed so clear when Ori was sitting next to him and explaining, yet now that he was on his own he had no idea what was going on. He was supposed to be making a glove, that much was clear, but unless they unearthed some strange creature with two thumbs he was fairly sure he'd need to rip out several rounds.

"Hard at work, I see." Bilbo's voice prompted Fíli to look up from his pathetic little attempt. "I'm not interrupting, am I?"

"Ah, not at all. I'd just about decided I should work on something simpler until Ori can come around and figure out the gusset for me, I think I've done it double." Fíli set the work down on his bedside table, right next to the collection of needles he'd amassed over the past few months by convincing various people to get them for him from the Iron Hills merchants. As soon as he'd acquired his first needles he'd tried to give Ori back the pair he'd let Fíli borrow while starting to learn, only for Ori to assure him he had plenty, really, and Fíli should just keep them. Those first two were now holding his hair up in a messy bun, braids and such finery being quite unnecessary while he was stuck in here. "Any particular reason you're visiting, or were you just hoping to save me from my boredom for a bit?"

"Ah. I was hoping to speak with you, if that's all right." Bilbo settled into the usual visitors' chair, sighing. "About Thorin, that is."

"What about Thorin?" Now, wasn't this curious. Maybe something was finally happening? "You know, I'm probably not the best person for a chat about anything, really. Just about anyone sees more of Thorin than I do, he doesn't have that much time for visiting me after all."

"I know, but it's not like I have a lot of choices. It's… a bit too personal for me to go to Balin with it, and Kíli and Dwalin are both too busy with their love woes for me to get anything sensible out of them."

"Well, I can at least listen." Fíli couldn't help but grin. "So Nori hasn't run off yet after realising he's actually tied himself to Dwalin, has he?" Not that he wouldn't have found out, what with Ori being his most frequent visitor. He'd been the first one Ori had rushed to tell of the courtship when it happened, too, not that Ori had seemed too terribly surprised. Apparently the whole thing with Dwalin giving Dori and Ori gifts to win their approval had been something of a giveaway, never mind things such as actually remembering the Ri family colours. And oh, hadn't that been a silly mistake for Fíli to make, but really, he couldn't be blamed if he misinterpreted things when all he had to go by was second-hand information and hearsay.

"Surprisingly enough, no. He still grumbles about how it's unnatural for a Ri to be properly married, but then Dori always says something about how their mother would have loved to see this and Nori gets very quiet all of a sudden." Bilbo shook his head. "They both seem happy, though, and the wedding will probably actually happen since Balin and Dori have taken over the planning, so Dwalin and Nori can't just keep dragging their feet forever."

Fíli snorted. "While Kíli will probably get married as soon as Mum gets here, and even that's just because he knows she'd yell his ears off if he didn't wait for her." He paused. "Of course, I'm pretty sure they're already married in the elven manner, but for one thing I don't think Mum would think that counts, and for another that's not something Kíli's likely to tell her." Nor would Fíli, partly because he was trying his best not to think about it too much. Sure, he was happy for his brother and all, but it would take him a while to get used to the idea of his baby brother actually being a grown dwarf and sharing his bed with someone.

"I suppose we can all just ignore that particular bit." Bilbo chuckled. "But in any case, this brings me back to Thorin."

"Let me guess. You're wondering how to court him?" As Bilbo blinked in surprise, Fíli rolled his eyes. "Please. I may be stuck in here, but just about everyone has told me about how the two of you are making eyes at each other but not doing anything about it."

"Well, I can't very well just march up to a king and demand his attention!" Bilbo huffed.

"If it's you? Yes, you probably could." Even from his limited time with Thorin lately he could tell that Bilbo could have had just about anything he desired, if he'd only thought to ask. Thorin was quite desperate for forgiveness, that much was clear.

"Except if he were interested, I'm sure he would have approached me by now." And, all right, he was starting to see just how the two could still be stuck at no progress at all.

"Honestly? I think if it wasn't for the Arkenstone mess, he would have asked you the moment the battle was over with." As Bilbo flinched, Fíli grimaced, realising how his words might have been misinterpreted. "No, I didn't mean like that! It's just… I'm not sure he thinks he deserves to have that, anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I think Thorin loves you. Already suspected it before everything happened, ever since the Carrock and such, but with the mithril shirt and everything after the battle I'm absolutely convinced. Except he treated you badly, and if I know my uncle at all, he's now convinced himself he doesn't deserve to have you after that or that you deserve better or some nonsense like that. So, I'm afraid you will have to make the first move if you want to get anywhere with him."

"Right." Bilbo nodded slowly. "That — I suppose I could see that. He has been terribly apologetic whenever that comes up somehow. But then how do I go about making that first move?"

"A gift. A handmade gift, it has to be something you made with your own hands, and preferably something that shows you were thinking of him. Kíli's been showering Tauriel with gifts, of course, but his first proper gift was a hair clasp he made himself, with emeralds for the forest and dark sapphires for Durin's line. And from what Ori's told me, Dwalin gave Nori a pair of knives he made, with amethysts at the hilt for the Ri family."

"That can't possibly be enough." Bilbo frowned. "I've certainly gotten gifts from members of the Company before, and I'm sure those were not all meant as courtship offers."

"Yes, well, I think everyone's bending the rules with you, since we know you don't follow our traditions. Generally, though, if a dwarf gives another dwarf something they made and doesn't expect anything in return, either they consider each other family or are hoping for courtship. Usually there's a clear declaration of intent to go with it, though, you don't just give someone a gift and then run away. How would they even know if you've made it yourself?" Fíli shook his head. "And with uncle, it's probably best to be clear in any case, if you're not very clear he'd just think you don't know our traditions and don't intend anything with it."

"So I should tell him I want to court him, and make a gift to go with that?"

"Precisely." Fíli nodded. "Anything less he probably won't notice, or will think you don't actually mean it. You know him well enough by now to know he can be quite stubborn sometimes to say the least. Don't leave him any wiggle room if you want an actual answer."

Bilbo nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "And… you think he'll answer favourably?"

"I'm certain of it." Fíli couldn't help but grin, now. "Feel free to take your time in deciding what to make, though. I'd rather like to be there to witness it."

As it turned out, Bilbo gave his gift just two days before Óin declared Fíli fit to be walking about again, yet he still witnessed the actual moment, thanks to the devious yet thoughtful hobbit. Thorin was making one of his rare visits to Fíli when Bilbo marched in, followed by an excited-looking Kíli. Fíli therefore got a very close seat from which to watch the spectacle of Thorin's face trying to express disbelief, surprise and joy all at once as Bilbo handed him a very nicely drawn map depicting their journey from the Shire to Erebor and announcing that he would rather like to court Thorin, if the king was amenable. Of course, being Thorin he took so long to answer Fíli could see the worry starting to fill Bilbo before he finally got his very enthusiastic yes, followed by an embrace and a kiss that Fíli wasn't entirely sure Kíli and he were supposed to witness. It was fine, though, their uncles were both happy and Thorin would hopefully act less mopey and everyone in the Company could stop sighing about their hopelessness, and as long as that was true it didn't really matter how they got there.

Fíli was so glad to see it happen, he didn't even bother to throw anything at Kíli when his brother — safely out of reach, of course — enquired when exactly Fíli was planning to make his own courtship offer.

His gift to Ori wasn't the pair of gloves he'd somehow managed to finish by the time summer arrived, nor was it a hat, a cowl, or even a pair of socks — not that it could have been the last one in any case, since Fíli was still half-convinced that the turning of a heel was a forbidden magic not meant for lesser dwarves like himself. No, what he took with him when he marched over to Ori's door the very first day he was allowed out and about was the very first thing he'd made, an uneven, sad-looking scarf that varied in width all along its length and didn't have any discernible pattern until about halfway through. It really wasn't the best show of his skills, as he well knew, but that wasn't the point anyway. The point was that he'd knitted this one with Ori from start to finish, had found warm hands guiding his every time he struggled even more than usual, and while he had made nicer and neater things since then none of them were so much about Ori, kind and smart and gentle Ori who had kept him from going absolutely bonkers while everyone else was too busy with their lives.

As it turned out, Ori gladly accepted both his gift and his courtship, and even paused to wrap the scarf securely around his neck before grasping the front of Fíli's tunic and tugging him down for a kiss. According to Ori the gift was perfect, which was just blatantly untrue, but then if anyone could have seen Fíli's reasoning behind his choice of a gift it was going to be Ori.

There would be more gifts, anyway, big and small and made and bought, anything and everything that might make Ori smile at him. He had the time now, for all that he suspected he would soon be busy with all sorts of princely duties, he had the rest of their lives to do his best to give Ori more reasons to smile.

He rather suspected he would not get bored of this particular endeavour.


End file.
